Lucky Guesswork
by Lynk A. Creonan
Summary: So there's this new transfer student from America. Her name's Fuyumi Chika. She gets a really good score on the entrance exam. She makes a lot of friends. But then there's this guy. He's really cute, but she doesn't know she likes him. She used to have problems. She still has problems. All she wanted was an adventure. OCxHideyoshi
1. New Student, Introductions, and Lunches

**I'm starting to wonder if I still ****exist. Whoa, looks like I do. So this is what I get after like, two years of nothing. Time is kind of a weird thing to me, so to me it's only been like a month since I last wrote a chapter of one of my other stories. Yet, here I go, coming over to the Baka and Test section. Let's hope this one goes better than the last have.**

******If you'd like to see the cover art up close and all shiny, go to deviantart .com and search Lynk Creonan. I drew it myself :3 Feel free to browse my other pieces. I'll generally always have all of my original characters drawn there for reference if your curious as to how they actually look.**

**FULL SUMMARY:  
Because of certain circumstances, Fuyumi Chika moves to Japan and enrolls in Fumizuki Academy. It's always been her dream to come to Japan because of her otaku obsession, but she recently had other motivations to go to the foreign land. Once successfully in her class, she runs into strange persons, easily gains friendship, and even has her eye on a certain boy. These things, however, are the least of the complications going to come her way. **

**RATED T FOR:  
Language  
Suggestive Themes  
**

* * *

I should have known there was something up when I walked into that room and couldn't see anything. The sun was super bright, or maybe it was the reflection of light off of all of the white, smiling teeth staring at me. Or maybe the class room was just so shitty that the windows were giant and there were no blinds. When I realized that squinting at floor was the best possible way for me to see anything, the first thing I noticed was the extravagant carpeted floor.

"This…" I began, "is where I'll take the placement test?"

Behind me stood the tall, hulking man who welcomed me to Fumizuki Academy and led me through endless, not-matching hallways and stairways. "It was the only class room that was available," he explained as he walked over to the other person in the room.

Once my eyes had adjusted better to my surroundings, I saw that the other was a girl, around my age, sitting at a desk in a fluffy looking chair. Her pencil was sprawling desperately across papers and she filed them quickly off of her desk once she completed them, issuing another back on in place. She was flying through those papers, an astonishing feat that my mind could barely grasp.

"Your times up, Shimada," the man said, touching the corner of the desk the girl was sitting at.

At this statement, the girl sighed and relaxed her shoulders. In very slightly broken Japanese—I think, I don't speak the language very well myself—replied, "I hope I did well this time. I really need good scores."

"I'll grade them while this girl takes her placement test," he said, taking the stack of papers that were next to her desk. "Now get back to class."

Rising to leave the room, the girl nodded at me. She sported a cute red ponytail with a yellow bow and what I assumed to be the school uniform. "Good luck!" she said to me, giving me a pat on the shoulder and running out of the room. I wondered what she was running for or from or even to, but the idea was quickly wiped away by the realization that I had to take a test for hours on end. If I had to leave for any reason, I would automatically get a zero. From what I read on the internet, this school would sort me into one of six classes depending on my score. I'd have to take a test in each subject. It would take forever, but I was ready.

"This is your test," the man said, gesturing to a desk he stood next to. Next to the wooden table were three stacks of papers, each as high as I am tall. It was intimidating. "By the way, I'm Nishimura-sensei, the school counselor. Now sit at this desk and don't start until I tell you to."

I did as he said and also took out the five pencils that I had prepared. When he said go, I wrote on those papers as fast as my arms would let me.

When the test ended, I too felt the relief I saw in the girl who was here before me. He took the papers that I completed from my bureau and explained that he would score them. I had to sit there and wait. I knew it would probably take years to grade all of those papers, but I was grateful that it was just my test that he needed to correct. I couldn't imagine how long it took during the beginning of the school year.

Bored, I started to stare out the window and into the hallway. I instantly noticed a boy peeking up from the bottom of the glass. All I could see was a camera he was holding and his face from his eyes up. I smiled at him and waved, but his face disappeared not too long after. Pondering why he didn't respond to my gesture, another boy—no, a girl?—went running as fast as his/her legs may carry. The person made eye contact with me, and for a moment, I felt like I wanted to jump out of my seat and follow him. There was something enticing about the kid's face; I just knew that I had to know him…her. Of course, then a mob of people followed the person. _Does this kind of thing happen a lot at this school? _I thought. _I sure hope so; it would make this trip more interesting than I'd hoped for! _

"Done!" the man yelled, abruptly pulling me out of my thoughts.

"So fast?" I asked as he slammed the magnificent stack on my desk. On the top was a small slip of paper with my designated class on it. For some reason, I was slightly nervous to look at it. I had never been told how smart or dumb I was in comparison to others, so knowing that the type of education I was going to receive would be based on my knowledge, I didn't know what to expect.

When the paper stared back at me with a giant letter A, I was actually surprised. Smart? Me? I didn't think so. I barely even speak the language and I managed such a high score. Well, actually, I knew exactly how I got that score. It was because of my magic power. At least, that's what my family calls it. When there are answers I don't know, like any other person, I guess. My guessing, however, always ends up correct. Sure, I can read Japanese decently and a lot of those question I could answer myself, but I think that I ended up answering so many questions was because I guessed on so many. Call me smart? Maybe. It didn't seem right though.

"Actually," Mr. Nishimura began, "your score was the highest any transfer student has even gotten on a placement test. It also puts you at the second smartest in your year."

"Really?" I said, crumpling the paper in between my hands. The smile must have grown on my face, since the teacher gave me a pat on the shoulder and smiled back.

"Good job, Fuyumi. I'll see you tomorrow."

The bright ass class room I found myself in the next day was even brighter than the last. All I was aware of at the moment was that there was a whole room full of smart people before me and a tall woman next to me. She presented herself at Takahasi-sensei, class 2-A's—my class's—homeroom teacher. She was tall, beautiful, with a dark shade of pink hair and round glasses. Though the eye pieces made her look older, I knew she was very young.

"This is the new transfer student, everyone," she introduced. By then, my eyes had slightly adjusted so I could stop squinting as much. "She's here all the way from America."

"Yes, hello everyone," I said. "My name is Fuyumi Chika. I hope we'll be able to work together!" I flipped the blonde hair out of my eyes and flashed one of my winning smiles. My family had always told me that I could win over any heart I wanted with only the grin on my lips. I used that idea to my advantage whenever I could.

There was one thing I didn't expect to see when I looked up out of my smile. Well, yes, all of the boys were gawking at me dreamily—except one in glasses—but the person I had seen running away from the pack of people the day before was right there, staring at me bored. There was something different about the person that time and it wasn't just that he was wearing a girl's uniform as opposed to the boy's one from yesterday. It was the way he looked at me; the eyes seeming icy and unfeeling rather than welcoming and curious. I sighed on the inside, secretly hoping that there could be a way that it wasn't the kid I had been pulled to.

When the awkward moments of my arrival were over, I took my place in the empty seat next to the class representative—a girl with dark violet hair that flowed past her waist. She looked over at me, and I couldn't tell if she was trying to be friendly or cold. I was getting the impression that she had the same face for everything. "How well do you speak Japanese?" she asked me.

"It's not too bad, I don't think," I replied, shifting awkwardly in my chair to try to show her that I was feeling uncomfortable. Actually, I wasn't but if the notion that I was an uncomfortable and lonely American would get me friends, then I would go for it.

"Okay, I'll try not to talk too fast."

I couldn't tell if that was rude or serious.

"Oh, by the way, my name is Kirishima Shouko, would you like to be friends?"

Didn't expect that to happen so fast.

"I'd like it if you ate lunch with my friends and I. We eat on the roof of the old building."

Old? If she's the class rep, why was she hanging out in the old wing where all of the stupid kids were?

"Today's a free day, so you can do whatever you want."

"O-oh, okay?" I said, "but I don't know my options."

"There are limitless options." Kirishima pointed over to where three people were gathered. One of them was the girl who looked like the person from the day before. "I'm going to hang out with my friends."

"Um, okay, am I allowed to just roam the hallways?" I asked, not sure if her statement was an offer for me to join her.

"Yes. I'll come find you when it's time for lunch."

Then she left, just like that. I decided that getting acquainted with my surroundings would be more important since there was already a set time for me to make new friends. Inside, I was looking forward to lunch time. Kirishima-san was going to be a good friend, I just knew it. Her seemingly monotone and dull personality was entertaining, plus she was a mega-genius. Apparently I was too, though.

As soon as I left the room, I wanted to turn around and go back inside. Too bad for me. I got swept up into a giant crowd. They were running. Those people were lucky I liked exercising. I guess this sort of thing did happen a lot. Cool. While we ran, I asked a boy next to me what we were doing.

"Ah! Who're you?" he yelled.

"I could ask you the same thing!" I shouted back. "I just got swept up into this mess!"

"Oh, so you don't know why we're running?"

"Isn't that what I asked?"

He pointed in front of him as if I could see ahead. All that was there was a sea of heads. "Up there," he said, "is a person who's been avoiding us all for days! He said he'd give us all special addition albums. We all paid, but he doesn't have any!"

"A-albums?" I could tell that this guy was getting tired, so I told him thanks for the info and ran faster to try to get to the head of the pack. Soon, I realized that each person I passed was a dude and they were all gasping in shock at my presence.

When I got to the front, I noticed that the person we were all running towards was the guy I saw yesterday with the camera. "Hey!" I called to him, breaking through the front line and positioning myself next to him. "I know you!" I said.

He looked over at me, slightly stunned, but still mute.

"I saw you through the window yesterday while Nishimura-sensei was grading my entrance exam."

The boy nodded in remembrance, then looked over at me confused.

"I just walked out of the classroom and just got carried away by all of these people! How long have you all been running for?"

He held up three fingers.

"Three minutes?"

He shook his head.

"Three hours?"

He nodded.

"Damn, that's pretty impressive," I said in English.

His expression became even more confused and pointed past us and ahead to a crack in the wall.

"Go in there?" I asked.

He nodded.

As we approached the crack, I started to realize that I might not be able to fit through it. I looked down at my chest, thinking about whether or not I could fit my breasts. I let the boy dodge in ahead of me, knowing that the people wouldn't try to follow me in there if they only saw me go in.

The boy ran easily through the small gap, and I sucked in my gut as best I could. Of course, when I got near the hole, I tripped and ended up rolling through. Still shaking the dizzy out of my head, I felt a hand grab mine and pull me to my feet. I noticed that the boy and I were in a small, dark area that was like a closed off alleyway when my eyes opened and I could see straight again. Outside, I could hear confused voices asking where he went and who I was. They sighed and gave up, eventually, slowly leaving one by one.

Once most of them had dispersed, I decided it was okay to talk quietly. "So," I whispered. "Can you speak?"

He nodded in reply, backing away from the opening a bit and pulling me towards him. Since it was dark, I couldn't tell if he was blushing or not, but I still had the impression he was because we were standing very, very close. Like, my boobs on his chest close.

"You got a name?"

"Tsuchiya. Tsuchiya Kouta."

"I'm, Fuyumi Chika. I transferred in today from America."

No reply, so I continued talking, trying to get more words out of him. If I had the chance to make a friend, this would be it.

"So it looks like you're really popular in this school."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"What class are you in?"

"F."

"You don't talk very much, do you?"

He shook his head.

I sighed, knowing that it would be hard to break his barrier. I could tell that he was the type of guy that would only talk to his close friends. There was one more question I wanted to ask him though, before I ditched.

"What were in the albums that all of those people are tracking you down for?"

This inquiry really set him off. Well, he wasn't angry—he was just really nervous all of a sudden. Tsuchiya started waving his hands rapidly and shaking his head.

"Is it…embarrassing?"

"N-no!"

"Then maybe…dirty?"

"Ack!"

Oh then I knew what kind of person this kid was. Wait a minute. If I saw him the day before with a camera…peeping at me…ew! I mean, it's never something I mind about, but still. I was taking a test! At least then I knew what cards to play with this guy.

I stepped in a little closer to him and put one gentle hand on his chest. "Oh c'mon," I said in a smooth voice in English. "You don't have to worry about things like that with me." I finished in Japanese. "I'm like that too."

"Yo-you are?" he stuttered. I could tell he was burning a bright red.

"Well, I hope I get to see you again. Just call me if you need anything. I promise I can help with _anything_."

I softly brushed his cheek with my hand and slipped out through the small opening, hoping that I wouldn't get stuck. That would just be embarrassing.

Having successfully exited the area, I continued walking down the hallway I was in until I realized I was utterly lost.

"Oh great," I said aloud in English. "Why is this place so giant?"

"Excuse me," I heard a voice behind me say. It was soft, cute even, and kind of nervous. I turned around to see who it was. Turns out it was an adorable girl—pink hair flowing in waves and delicate features. She was fiddling with her hands timidly and looked in every direction except at me. "Are you lost too?"

"Uhm, yeah, where are you trying to go?" I asked. "Maybe we could team up and be lost together. We might find things easier with two brains."

"O-okay," she replied, walking over to stand next to me. She was short and even cuter close up. "I'm looking for the 2-A classroom. Normally I know where it is, but there was a mob of people and I got swept up in it."

"Hey, me too! Let's just try walking that way." I pointed ahead of us, hoping that we'd actually get more lost and have to meet someone else that I could befriend.

"What's your name?" the girl asked. "I'm Himeji Mizuki."

"Fuyumi Chika, I just got here from overseas."

"Oh! You're the transfer student who got the amazing score! That's really impressive."

"Well, thanks, Himeji-san."

We then proceeded to walk through endless extravagant hallways. Since I had lost hope that we would meet anyone else, I desperately wanted to find the class she was heading to. Our conversations were getting boring. She asked me if I was used to the summoning system yet. I told her no. She asked if I had made a lot of friends. I said not really. She asked if I liked the school. I told her I wasn't sure. I expected the next thing to be how the weather was, but I suspired in relief when I saw Kirishima-san waking towards us.

"Shouko-san!" Himeji called, waving a hand in the air.

"I see you've met Mizuki-chan," she said in her usual cool tone.

"Yeah, we got lost together," I explained. "You found me, does that mean it's lunch time?"

"Yes, let's get your lunches." She gestured to her side, pointing to the 2-A classroom.

"H-how?" I asked, not actually wanting an answer. I slumped over in defeat, letting my arms dangle.

Kirishima-san led us to the roof of the old building that held the poorer classrooms. When the three of us arrived, I saw her friends all sitting in a circle. I recognized three of the people. One was the girl with the ponytail who was finishing a test as I arrived to take my own. Another was Tsuchiya. The third was the boy in the hallway. When I looked at him for the second time, I felt the same tug and I knew it was the same person from that time. I didn't waste a second thinking about the girl in my class. I didn't actually care because I had found who I wanted for real this time.

"These are my friends," Kirishima stated. "Friends, this is the new transfer student."

"Hey, I saw you yesterday!" ponytail called, waving.

"I saw you too," the beautiful boy said.

"Yeah I remember," I replied. "My name's Fuyumi Chika, it's nice to meet all of you." I smiled, hoping it would win all of them over, but also that it would catch Tsuchiya-san's eye. I heard the shutter of a camera and knew that it did. I winked over at him. He blushed and looked away. It was cute.

"Transfer student?" a strapping boy with red spiky hair asked. "Where you from?"

"America."

"Cool," another boy—cute beyond belief—with dirty blonde hair and striking brown eyes piped in. "You know Shimada over here is from Germany. She transferred in last year. You guys could speak your native language together!"

Well he's stupid. I wasn't going to say anything about it though.

"That's pretty awesome," I responded, looking over at ponytail who revealed herself to be the German.

"Why don't you sit down?" Kirishima offered, showing an empty space in the circle for me to sit.

"Thanks, Kirishima-san."

As I sat, I noticed each person had a different reaction to my appearance. Tsuchiya and cutie boy had to look away. Red hair tried to act unimpressed, but he was certainly ogling my goodies. Himeji tapped her waist and sighed. Shimada patted her chest and sighed. Striking boy—who is definitely not a girl when I saw him up close—smiled and looked me up and down. It wasn't in a sexual way, though, which was happily to my liking. I could have sworn that Kirishima's eye twitched.

"Oh, we must seem pretty rude," cute boy said. "My name's Yoshii Akihisa."

"Sakamoto Yuuji," red hair introduced, pointing a thumb to his chest.

"Shimada Minami," ponytail said.

"I'm Kinoshita Hideyoshi."

Kinoshita…that's a name I'll never forget. I said it in my head over and over again so that I wouldn't lose it.

"And the rest of you I've already met," I said, folding my hands in my lap.

"How do you know Muttsulini?" Yoshii inquired.

"Mussu-what?"

"He means Kouta," Yuuji clarified.

"Oh—we ran into each other in the hallway not too long ago."

"All right you guys," Shimada-san interrupted, "can we please eat? I'm starving!"

Each of us opened our lunch boxes or bentos. My dad always told me that there was a lot to tell about a person based on what he had in his lunch. Shimada had a cutely done up box, complete with rice and hotdog-octopuses and other assorted vegetables. She seemed sweet and sporty and also was watching her figure. Himeji's bento looked similar, but had less rice and a few fried items. She was also watching her waist, but I could tell the food was prepared by someone other than her. Kirishima had two; probably meaning that she was going to share her food with someone she liked. Otherwise, it was normal looking, telling me absolutely nothing about her personality. Sakamoto had little to eat, and was probably the person Kirishima wanted to share with. Tsuchiya's box was full of a ton of different foods, telling me that he loved all different types of girls—most of that was deducted from our earlier conversation. Kinoshita's bento was very neatly organized with perfect proportions. I had the impression that someone else made it for him, whether it was a sibling or an admirer. He's so pretty, it must be that everyone loves him. Finally was Yoshii, whom I soon realized had no food. He must have had no money. Poor guy. Stupid and hungry. A life worth living. I would have offered some of my food, since I had a whole tone of it, but I could tell by the way Himeji and Shimada looked at him that it would be a bad idea.

"_Itadakimasu!_" we all called, clapping our hands together and signifying that it was time to eat.

"So I'm curious," I began, wanting to start a conversation. "Are there any in's and out's that I should know about this school?"

"Well," Sakamoto began. I soon knew that he was the go-to-guy for information, since everyone else looked at him when I asked. "You probably already know about Summoner Test Wars, right?"

"Yep."

"So basically, you should know that class-A are the top students, like yourself and Shouko here. Class-F, of course, would be the lowest—us being the idiots of the school. The teachers here are intense, Ironman being the toughest."

"Who's that?"

"You probably already met him. Nishimura-sensei?"

"Oh yeah, he's the school counselor."

"Everyone here calls him Ironman," Yoshii added, "because he can tough out all weather conditions and even wears short sleeves in the snow!"

"Never let your Avatar's points drop to zero, because you'll have to take a remedial class with the guy," Shimada-san said.

"Good to know," I thanked.

"Also," Kinoshita said. "The principal here is always messing with the system and using all of us as test dummies, so watch out."

"If you're going to be friends with us here, then a lot of weird stuff is going to happen to you," Shimada warned.

"All the more reason to be acquainted." I smiled at all of them, glad that it was the case. I couldn't wait to spend more days at Fumizuki Academy with these people, since an adventure is what I wanted when I came to Japan. An adventure is sure as hell what I got.

* * *

**So of course I have to ask for reviews, because otherwise, I'll be writing for ghosts. Plus, neither of us benefit from this experience if you don't review. Maybe there's something you don't understand that I need to clear up? Maybe I spelled a word wrong, I don't know, just say something please? I'll go on hiatus again if you don't. So...watch out? I guess? Yeah, so thanks :3**


	2. Homosexuals, Love Letters, and Feelings

******If you'd like to see the cover art up close and all shiny, go to deviantart .com and search Lynk Creonan. I drew it myself :3 Feel free to browse my other pieces. I'll generally always have all of my original characters drawn there for reference if your curious as to how they actually look.  
**

**FULL SUMMARY:  
Because of certain circumstances, Fuyumi Chika moves to Japan and enrolls in Fumizuki Academy. It's always been her dream to come to Japan because of her otaku obsession, but she recently had other motivations to go to the foreign land. Once successfully in her class, she runs into strange persons, easily gains friendship, and even has her eye on a certain boy. These things, however, are the least of the complications going to come her way.**

**RATED T FOR:  
Language  
Suggestive Themes**

* * *

So I've discovered that each person at this school is either very quirky or batshit crazy. Especially those people in class-F. Then again, my class has its share too. Recently, I've met the poor guy who's spot I took as second smartest second year. He's nice, but definitely has a few problems. Every time I see him looking at me, I can't help but wonder what he's thinking about. Today, it's really bothering me. So I go over to talk to him, since every day just happens to be a free day, it seems.

"Kubo-kun," I say, leaning my head on my hand. "Why are you making that face?"

"W-What face, Fuyumi-san?" he replies. I have learned that he is very bad at masking his emotions.

"The face you always make when you look at me.

He doesn't reply.

"C'mon Kubo, I know you're thinking about something."

"W-well…there is one thing," he says. Kubo starts to fiddle with his thumbs and sometimes pushes his glasses up on his nose.

"Then tell me!" I insist. "I promise, Kubo. I can totally keep a secret." Well, that's a lie. If this is juicy, then I can assure I'll tell basically everyone in class-F. I'm just that naughty.

"I just, I can't help but think you might be…you know…homosexual."

Um. What. Did. He. Just. Say.

"Excuse me?"

"It's just that, you don't seem to be appealing to men, you sit like a boy, your hair is somewhat outrageous, and you say _boku _and not _watashi_."

I stare at him. Okay, so I guess he wasn't ranked second smartest for no reason like I am now. I just didn't realize that he was so perceptive. Like, really perceptive. Like, he just read my mind, basically.

"D-don't you t-think that's a little personal?" I ask, trying to hide my blush.

"You're right!" he basically yells. "I'm sorry! Really sorry! Can we still be friends!?"

"Kubo-kun! Calm down!" He is really freaking out over this. It's my fault anyway—I inquired about it, he was just being honest. Because it is my fault, I decide I'll tell him anyway. "Alright, alright, sit down I'll tell you."

"But you d-don't have to," he stutters.

"No," in English, "I want you to know, Kubo-kun. I feel like we are getting to be really close friends," in Japanese. A lie, but I think it's okay. Maybe we'll be real good friends in the future, I don't know. I am so used to lying that I can't help but do it every once and a while. I do want someone to know this about me though. It's always better to end a rumor before it starts. "Actually," I say, "I'm bisexual."

Kubo literally drops his mouth to the ground. I laugh, trying not to burst out hysterically at his face. His stunned expression is priceless.

"I…can't believe…" he stutters. "You're like me, Fuyumi-chan!"

"Whoa," I say, "that's not okay. I don't want to hear any of this _–chan_ business."

"O-oh, I guess I didn't ask. Sorry, I'm messing up all over the place today."

"That's okay Kubo, but now that I think about it, you said that we were alike?"

"Oh, it looks like I did say that."

"So who's the boy you like?"

"His name's Yoshii—wait, you tricked me!"

Knowing that he'll probably pursue me, I stand and quickly evacuate the area. I got the information that I wanted, and he got what he wanted. Therefore, we are even. It's a perfect time for us to increase our friendship level, but I think it's better if we give it a little bit of a break before then.

Now standing in the hallway outside of class-A, I can't help but reminisce to my first day in the week previous. I've become really good friends with the others in class-F, but the persons I really want to bond with I don't get the chance to be with. For instance, Kinoshita. I know his sister—the identical twin in my class whom I call Yuuko for confusion purposes and with special permission—like the back of my hand. She's not intriguing like the other. Also, Tsuchiya. He's obviously the quiet type, but he's also technically the second person I met here. The kid's always off by himself in a corner or somewhere sketchy with Yoshii-kun. I want to be best friends with those two, not the others who have attached themselves to me. Like Shimada and Kirishima. I don't know why ponytail likes me so much—I always make fun of her and insult her. I guess it sounds like it's a joke, but she should know me well enough by now to know that I always sound sarcastic. Maybe it's my accent? I don't think so. That's just me. Kirishima I don't mind as much because her and Sakamoto-san's relationship is the funniest thing on the planet. I don't know, I guess, I'm just feeling a little lonely without my family. Living by myself is a tough situation.

Feeling a little bored, I go over to find my locker. I just want to look at it for some reason, but there's an even better surprise when I see inside. It's a little pink note, folded in half and held together by a heart sticker. I take off the sticky item and scan the words inscribed.

It's a love letter. It's from someone anonymous. It's the cutest thing I've ever read. I think I'm getting cavities just reading it.

I can't understand why whoever sent this did, because there are no instructions to meet anywhere or do anything. It's just simply a sweet note. No reason behind it. I stick it in my pocket. I want to take it home and put it on a special place on my desk. I've never gotten a love letter before. Really, I've only had the one boyfriend back in America, but I cheated on him with a girl down the street. Sweet nothings had been lost to me. Now, wanting to start anew, I feel like I can appreciate this more than I normally would.

As I start to leave the area and go investigate the class-F room, I notice Tsuchiya's face disappear around the corner. I call out his name and search for him, only for him to reappear right behind me. "You know," he begins, making me jump.

"Ah!" I yelp as I turn to face him.

"You can call me Kouta."

I stare at him blankly. "Isn't that for friends who are really close? I've only known you for a week."

"You told me you'd do anything for me, so," he moves himself slightly farther away, his hands going into his pockets timidly, "I want us to be really close friends."

I smile at his cute posture. "So now you're shy? Muttsulini?" The other clears his throat and stands up straighter. "Haven't we gone over this? I know what you are, so I know all of your goals and morals. You don't have to pretend to try to get me to like you. I'm the same way, remember?"

Kouta smirks deviously at me. I bet he's entertained by the fact that I'm a hot girl who enjoys looking at dirty things. Well, in this situation really, I like other people's misery. The reactions of the people around him when he snaps a photo of some panties is the priceless moment I'm looking for. So I tell him that I would like us to be good friends and that maybe we could hang out some time. Just the two of us. Alone. With my words I lift the hem of my skirt a little. Suggestive. He got a nosebleed and collapsed on the floor. "Nice talking to you, Kouta-kun," and I exit the area.

This was the first time I've seen him in about two days. He's been AWOL during lunch and it's not just me who's noticed. I commented on it and the others agree—he's been missing. Of course I'm a little curious, but I'm also still adjusting to the norms of the people that I've been around. Maybe this is something he does often.

So now I'm wandering the halls again, feeling slightly bored. Whenever I've done this, so far, I end up meeting someone strange. I have to admit, I'm hoping it happens.

My wish is granted.

A shorter girl with cute orange curls is running towards me at full speed. She's yelling my name, dragging out every sound as she gets closer and closer. Wait, hold on, she's actually running really fast. She's not stopping. She's going to run into me! I put up my hands to guard my face and wait for the inevitable impact, but it doesn't come. The girl stops in her tracks, her toes about an inch away from mine and her hot breath panting on my arms.

Cautiously, I lower my limbs and stare into her angry, yellow eyes. "Can I help you?" I ask.

"Fuyumi Chika!" she screams. "You're a disgrace!"

"I'm sorry?" I classify her under batshit crazy.

"How could you like the beautiful figure of a woman and the ugly appearance of a man at the same time? It's simply revolting!"

"So, you're a lesbian?"

"You bet I am!" She uses her two hands to push me away from her and I can see the rest of her body. She isn't shockingly gorgeous, but not horrifically ugly either. She's got a nice set of boobs and pretty thin too. If she weren't insane, I'd probably be attracted to her. "I'm Shimizu Miharu, now come," she extends her hand to me, putting her straddling legs into an uncomfortably straight posture and tilting her head to the side slightly, "join me." Her voice grows creepy and I swear I can see a black aura encircling her.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean," I say, backing away in slight fear.

"Forget about silly men and be with me." My effort is meaningless and she is taking small steps closer to me, faster than my attempt to get away.

"Like, in a romance type of deal?" my voice is shaking now, afraid that she'll rape me if I let her get too close to me.

"If that's what you want, but you should know that I'm already in love."

Dare I ask. "With who?"

She stops coming towards me and has a complete personality change. Her eyes light up and she claps her hands together in front of her breasts. Shimizu's posture softens and her voice becomes loving. "It's my darling cuddle bunny Minami!"

"Shimada?" Um, what. Things just keeps getting weirder.

"You know my cookie cake? You're not attracted to her flat chest, are you?" Now she's getting a little defensive.

"No, no, promise. I like my girls busty." True.

The crazy melts a little, slouching, like she's relieved and tired and upset all at the same time. "Good, I'm really tired of having to chase men off my sweetheart." She scoffs. "It's that Yoshii Akihisa. He's ruining everything."

"Hey, hey don't be sad, Shimizu-chan," I say, walking over to her and putting my hand on her shoulder. She stood up a bit in response, looking up at me with now big, hopeful, sparkling eyes. Damn she's good. I know she's making this face on purpose, trying to get me in the palm of her hand. She really wants me to be lesbians with her, which is not going to happen. I've gone over it a lot in my head, honest. I definitely like both dudes and chicks. "I'll help you in any way I can."

"So, we can be friends, Chika-san?"

Ew, my first name? That's just wrong. I've always hated it. But if letting her call me that will convince her, then so be it. I'll have to let others call me that too then, in case suspicion comes up. "Of course, Miharu-chan."

I take it back, _everyone _here is batshit crazy. Sure, the kids in class-F are slightly nicer, but they totally have most of their crews loose. Oh, after my little encounter with the lesbian who is apparently now my best friend, it was lunch time. Kouta's missing again today, but I don't ask about it this time. Instead, I try to communicate with Yoshii, seeing if he's interested in calling me by my first name.

"So, I've decided," I say, sitting down next to the ashy blonde, "we should get to know each other a little better."

"Oh yeah?" he replies, looking over at me surprised. "I mean, sure. I want us to be friends."

"Just friends?" Okay, that sounds more forward than I want it to. "I don't really have anyone here that I'm really close to, and I just, I feel like we have a lot in common."

"Um, Okay, what do you want to know?"

The other girls are having their own conversations, but I can tell that they are listening in on our conversation. Kinoshita is listening too. I don't mind that. It means he's concerned. Sweet.

"What about your parents? Have any?" I take a bite of my lunch, mumbling my words through the chewing.

"Yeah, but I live by myself." Ah, so that's why he never has food. Alone, stupid, and lazy. "My parents work overseas and my sister's been out of the country. I get money from them every now and again, but I usually blow it all on anime and video games."

"What! No way! Me too! I mean the nerd part, not the poor part." I'm literally obsessed with anything otaku related. I've seen all of the anime there ever was, been to as many conventions as affordable, and played all of the role-players in my clutches. My parents just about hate it about me, but I don't really have any other way to relieve the frustration I get every day from having to deal with the people around me. Or, at least that is how it used to be. I haven't picked up a book or my controller since I arrived at this school.

"That's so cool! Maybe we should hang out sometime?" Yoshii's serious. The fact that he can be so gullible yet kind and sincere weirds me out sometimes. "Oh, wait, I don't know about your family though."

"I live by myself too. My brother is basically a genius and got a scholarship at a college here. I asked if I could go with him since I've always wanted to come. My parents didn't object. I saw my chance to go to the land I've always dreamed of—where manga and video games run wild through the streets. Sure, I miss obsessing over my beautiful American voice actors, but Japan was my true dream. My parents decided to give me and my brother Japanese lessons, then bought us a condo and shipped us off. My brother didn't tell our parents that he'd be staying in a dorm, knowing that they'd say it was dangerous to leave me by myself," I explain.

"That's kind of hard core," Yuuji comments and I notice that everyone is now listening in on our conversation.

"What?" Yoshii interrupts. "Why is it cool that she lives on her own and not me?"

"Because she can actually handle her money and you don't," his friend bluntly states. Well, it's true.

"Harsh, Yuuji," Yoshii pouts as he crosses his arms.

The reason I have money isn't because I can manage it well though. I guess I should tell them that. "You guys," I say, breaking their attention back to me. "Hate to crush your dreams, but my money comes from my brother. Our parents give us more than enough money, and each of us get our own sum. We use mine, since it's less, to buy food and stuff and his is for emergency games and po—books. And manga. Ya' know." Phew, that was a close one. I almost said—

"Porn? You buy that stuff?" Kinoshita-san asks.

Shit. Cover blown. "Um, yeah. Guess the secrets out." I don't think I'll be able to keep my lunch down if this conversation keeps up. For some reason, I'm really embarrassed. Now understand that this doesn't happen to me. I don'tget embarrassed. It must be because of someone in the group, but who?

"Whoa really? We're more and more alike each day!" Yoshii exclaims. He leans over towards me, his shoulder coming to touch mine. Before the contact happens, however, Himeji and Shimada punch him square in the face. These girls have a serious problem. "Why am I the only one who ever gets hurt?" the broken-faced boy inquires.

"Because it's only funny when it's you," I answer. Well, that's only true from my point of view. I don't know about anyone else.

His face cranes up to look at me after being smashed into the ground by Shimada—it must be the German in her—and he smiles. "Can I call you Chika?"

Winning. "Sure, if I can call you Akihisa."

He chuckles. It's really cute. "I'm glad we met, Chika-chan."

And I hate it.

I let the weekend pass by myself, just living in my home with no interruptions. My phone rings, but I let it be. I've been having way too much human interaction than I can normally deal with. Plus, if I wanted to get out of the house, I wouldn't really know where I could go. I've been here for three weeks and I still don't know where anything other than my brother's college, my school, or the food market is. For now, I'm content with it.

First day back in school, and I'm going over to put my shoes in my locker. I notice that Himeji and Shimada are having a conversation a few lockers down. I strain my ear to hear it. It's about me. I don't care what their saying. Instead, I open my locker and again there is a surprise inside. This time, it's three love letters. Carefully, I peel each open, reading the words only to realize that they are all anonymous. Yes, the writing is sweet and wordy, but if there isn't a signature, I care less.

The two gossipy girls find their way next to me, looking over my shoulders and reading the letters as well. "That's so cool," Shimada comments. "I wish I got love letters."

"I don't understand how you do it, Fuyumi-san," Himeji adds. How I do what? She doesn't tell me and I don't ask. "You haven't been here very long and everyone likes you."

"You know," Shimada-san begins, making her way to stand in front of me. "Even the guys in year three have been talking about you."

"They have?" I'm honestly surprised. "I wonder why."

"Because you're way hot!"

"I am?"

Himeji is standing in front of me now too, her hands in fists and her face scrunched up in jealousy. "Yeah! Your boobs are so nice…"

"And your waist so thin…"

"How do you do it?" they ask me simultaneously.

Now the two are way too close to me. I guess in an attempt to be intimidating, they've gotten in my face. Since I'm a bunch of inches taller than them, their efforts are lost. Plus these two are too cute to be intimidating.

"It's not my fault if I'm pretty," I reply cockily. "I've just been living normally. It's in my genes I guess."

"Arrogant!" Shimada accuses.

Well yeah.

"Selfish!" Himeji adds.

Yep, that too.

"You guys have guts," I say. My mood has shifted and I'm now a little annoyed by these two girls. I guess I just have something up my ass, but let's be honest. They have their flaws too. So I've moved towards them and pinned them against the locker, one hand on the cold, metal surface next to Himeji's head to keep me from falling over. "I'm in a pretty bad mood today, so if you two don't lay off, I'll sic Kouta on you."

"Ah! Please don't!" they yelp.

I back away from them and trudge away. I shove the three letters into my bag as I make my way to class. I must be PMSing or something.

When lunch time rolls around, I'm glad I packed pocky in my bento. I hork it all down and I can feel the others staring at me curiously. Kinoshita asks if I'm alright. "O-oh yeah, I'm fine." I tell him.

"Are you sure? We can talk if there's something on your mind." He's too cute. I love that Kinoshita's so concerned about me right now. It really brings me back up to my normally bitchy attitude and I have the strength to go back to lying.

"Really, I'm alright. I was just seriously hungry. I guess I've been feeling a little insecure too," I say, putting the empty box of the delicious treats on the ground and picking up my rice.

"What for, Chika-chan?" Akihisa asks.

"I saw my brother this weekend," the lie formulating in my head. I can't honestly say what's wrong since I don't actually know. "He has a really beautiful new girlfriend. She's a lot like me, so it's a little creepy. I must just be upset that he's gotten so much attention from this one person and I've been feeling so lonely."

"Why?" Kinoshita inquires. "You have all of us with you." He moves closer to me and grabs my one hand with both of his. "I promise I'll never leave your side, Fuyumi-san. We'll be friends forever."

I must be blushing, because my face suddenly feels like it's a thousand degrees. I can hear the shutter of Kouta's camera going off, but he still hasn't made an appearance. I look over at Akihisa and see him sitting there, wondering what black magic he uses to appear out of nowhere all of the time. Kouta whispers something to Aki and both fall to their death with nosebleeds.

My gaze goes back to Kinoshita and his eyes are staring at mine with a strange intensity. I have to say something back. "Thank you, Kinoshita. You mean a lot to me."

What. Did. I. Just. Say.

Dammit why does this keep happening to me? I used to be so cool and smooth. It's all of these Asians. It must be. Since I feel like I'm about to explode and I'm already turning a certain shade of tomato red, I quickly rise to my feet and exit the area gracefully, leaving my bento behind and not caring.

I run to the girl's bathroom in the new building and I'm thankfully by myself. Now I'm standing in front of a sink, my hands on each side of the rim, supporting my slouched figure. When I look up at myself in the mirror, I look like a mess. I must have forgotten to brush my hair because there are uneven blonde locks sticking up in every direction. My tie isn't on right and the top button of my shirt isn't fastened. My dark eyeliner is smudged and my mascara is uneven. What was I doing this morning that made me look like this and why hadn't anyone said anything to me? Like Himeji and Shimada! They should have told me.

"No," I say aloud in English. What's wrong with me? I got angry when Ponytail and Himeji complemented me, I was embarrassed for admitting I buy porn, and I basically told Kinoshita-san that I have a crush on him. Things like this don't happen to me. In America, I was perfectly fine having two purely physical relationships at once and not caring about their feelings. No, really it was my own feelings I didn't care about. All of a sudden I have feelings. Maybe it's because I'm finally free from my insane parents. Here, in Japan, I'm genuinely happy for once. I want to start anew right? So I'm going to have to learn how to handle emotions.

I splash some cold water in my face and wash my makeup off. Having none on is better than having it be messy. I comb my damp fingers through my hair, flattening it and creating some sort of order. My hands are shaking and I try my best to control them as I fix my outfit. It's time to go back to class now, but when I exit, Kinoshita is standing before me.

"I'm sorry!" I burst out. My hands go up and cover my mouth, trying to keep other unexpected words inside of me.

"Don't be," he says. "Actually, I wanted to apologize. I acted a little rashly. You're just…so beautiful."

Aww, he likes me. "Th-thanks you," I reply, blushing again. "You're not that bad looking yourself."

He chuckles in reply. Really cute. "Let's pretend all of that didn't just happen, okay? Go back to being friends for now?"

"That sounds good. I don't want things to be awkward between us when we've only recently met."

Kinoshita hands me my empty bento box. "Sorry, Akihisa ate the food."

"That's alright, poor kid's starved as it is. It kind of makes me want to make him food every day," I joke, the tension between us lifting.

"I wouldn't, you might give Himeji an idea."

I've been told that her food is Black Death. Apparently I'm lucky to have never tasted it yet.

"If you insist."

We laugh together for a moment before saying goodbye. We'll see each other tomorrow.

I made extra sure that I looked good today. Maybe my appearance influenced my attitude yesterday. Maybe I'm just lying to myself to make myself feel better.

Anyway, I again get to my locker and the setting is similar to the one of the day before. This time, the two girls come over to me and say good morning, asking how I was feeling. I tell them that I'm remarkably better, but then I open my locker. Out come endless amounts of love letters, pouring at my feet. There's no way I'll be able to read all of them. Basically, I have a _Doctor Who_ locker and the amount of letters that erupted could not possibly have fit inside the tiny space unless it is magically bigger on the inside. I'm literally waist deep in a mound of letters, each different.

I enlist the girls to help me look through them for a signature. To our dismay, there still aren't any, but they all tell me to meet them on the roof of the new building five minutes into lunch. "Do you guys think maybe these are all from the same person?" I ask, throwing a couple to the side and looking over at them.

"Maybe, but there are a lot of different handwritings here," Himeji says as she swims her way out of the pile and adjusting her blazer.

"So it's possible, but not likely." Of course I'm really curious about the situation, but the only thing that I can really do is show up at the desired place and time.

I'm alone for only a few moments when a flock of assorted boys and girls—mostly boys though—appear all at once. They all say my name, but then they notice each other and start arguing. I have to yell to break them up. "Can you guys please calm down?" They look up at me. A hundred faces staring at me, awaiting my every word. "All of you wrote those letters?" They tell me yes. I'm looking for Kinoshita among them, but I don't see him. Wait, there's one face I recognize. "Akihisa?"

The sea of people parts and leaves him a pathway right to me. "You like me?" I ask him.

"Well…yeah I mean…look at you Chika," he says. There's mumbling among the crowd at his use of my first name. "You've been really nice to me, I guess, I just…"

"Yoshii Akihisa!" two girl's voices scream. Of course I recognize them. It's Himeji-chan and Shimada-san. Their raging jealously is blatantly obvious, but I can guarantee Akihisa doesn't recognize it. After stomping their way over to him, Shimada grabs him by the neck and pulls his head around back until it touches his toes. He's screaming about his back breaking or something. I was too busy laughing to listen.

Himeji is coming over to me and bowing a whole bunch. I guess I should pay attention to her. "Me and Minami are really sorry for how we acted yesterday." Oh, okay.

"Don't worry about it, I was the one acting poorly. I'm the one who should be apologizing," I tell her, which is true. I was feeling really bad about it—I even dreamed about it.

Himeji giggled, showing me her adorable side. "We forgive you."

"And I forgive you too. But how about something? To make it up, I'll give you guys advice on how to wrangle guys." I gesture to the other people on the roof with us. "Apparently I'm good at it."

She lights up at this offer, telling me she'd love it and that she'd tell Shimada. Himeji bids me farewell and leaves with the other and a once again broken Akihisa.

Again I'm alone with this horde of people and they are all fighting for my affection again. I honestly don't know what to do. There are two people that come into mind that could help, but I don't know if they'll be able to hear me. I try anyway. "Kouta-kun! Kubo-kun! I need your help!"

Kouta appears in front of me in a black cloud and Kubo runs up through the people. Wasn't expecting that one. I tell them to help get rid of the people. Each of us begins ushering the crazed persons away. I had to kick a couple in the face and I broke a few others and knocked out others and threw a couple off the side of the roof. After many tiring minutes, we manage to be alone once again. I really hope something like this doesn't happen again. I thank both of the boys for the help, giving them each a kiss on the cheek for reward. Kouta gets a nosebleed like always and disappears in the same smoke he appeared in. Kubo smiles and pushes his glasses up on his noes before exiting through the door.

I'm alone for only a few moments when Kinoshita comes running onto the scene, out of breath. "You got my letter?" he asks. I wonder aloud if he wrote one of the love letters. "Love letter? No, I wouldn't. Have you been getting ones?"

"Don't even get me started," I reply, putting my hands on my hips and looking off to the side.

"No, my letter was an offer," he explains as I look back over at him. "I really need you to join the drama club. Our lead actress ran out on us. Will you fill her spot?"

I sigh. True, I was in the drama club in America, but the people there were really annoying and all hooking up with each other constantly. Myself included. I'm also disappointed that he didn't write me a love letter, but my hope disappears in a suspire. "I don't see why I can't, but why did you come to me?"

"Someone told me that they heard you singing and that you're amazing."

Also true, but I don't know who told him that. Actually, I might have to kill the person that did. I don't like people knowing I can sing. It ruins a whole face I try to make for myself.

"Alright, you win. When's the first show?"

"Next weekend."

I laugh nervously, hoping he's shitting me. No, no Kinoshita's serious alright. I have only a couple of days to become the lead actress for the festival's show. I freak out on the time constraint, but the two of us somehow end up laughing and blushing together in the sunlight.

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**So of course I have to ask for reviews, because otherwise, I'll be writing for ghosts. Plus, neither of us benefit from this experience if you don't review. Maybe there's something you don't understand that I need to clear up? Maybe I spelled a word wrong, I don't know, just say something please? I'll go on hiatus again if you don't. So...watch out? I guess? Yeah, so thanks :3**


	3. Plays, Festivals, and Hungry Goldfish

**If you'd like to see the cover art up close and all shiny, go to deviantart .com and search Lynk Creonan. I drew it myself :3 Feel free to browse my other pieces. I'll generally always have all of my original characters drawn there for reference if your curious as to how they actually look.  
**

**FULL SUMMARY:  
Because of certain circumstances, Fuyumi Chika moves to Japan and enrolls in Fumizuki Academy. It's always been her dream to come to Japan because of her otaku obsession, but she recently had other motivations to go to the foreign land. Once successfully in her class, she runs into strange persons, easily gains friendship, and even has her eye on a certain boy. These things, however, are the least of the complications going to come her way.**

**RATED T FOR:  
Language  
Suggestive Themes**

* * *

I think I'm going to have a panic attack. The show is in two days. Sure, I know all my lines and stage directions and what not, but I still feel like my eyeballs are going to fall out of my head and then my arms will fall off. On top of that, basically everyone is insulting me. Almost every word I've been hearing has something to do with my personality or that I really need to "chill out." Screw them, I'm perfectly fine. Wait, no I'm not. Am I losing limbs yet? I don't think I can feel my toes anymore.

Right now it's lunch time and all of the usual people are on the roof with me. They're staring at me. I think they're talking about me. I don't know, I stopped listening a while ago, but it's really getting on my nerves. "Can you guys just shut up?" I yell.

They get silent, of course. I'm an intimidating chick. I think. I hope. Regardless, the gang stops talking and now they're really staring at me. Like really _really_ staring. Akihisa puts his hand on my knee—he's sitting next to me. "Is something wrong, Chika-chan?" he asks.

I think about it. Is there something wrong with me? I don't think so. Other than the fact that I'm slowly losing my limbs and vital organs, I'm fine. Honestly, I know that there's nothing for me to worry about, but for some reason I still feel like this. It's really annoying and my friends aren't helping by talking about me when they're right in front of me. Wait, were they even talking about me? I guess I wasn't listening, so how would I know? "I'm fine," I tell him.

"Yeah, but you told us to shut up," he starts, "but we weren't even talking."

Ha ha what.

"No, you definitely were."

"Sorry, Fuyumi," Sakamoto says. "We weren't."

"Don't you be shitting with me!" I shout. Like serious, I'm not crazy I know it. I put my elbows on my knees and rub my temples with my fingers. I decide it's a good idea to separate myself from them and just focus on my eating. I close my eyes and just listen to the conversation they have around me.

"Sorry about her," Kinoshita says, "Our show is in a couple days. She's probably just anxious."

No, I wouldn't say that. I'm just feeling particularly bitchy today. Yeah that's it.

Sakamoto-san suggests, "Why don't we all go to the festival and support her? I'm sure it would make her feel better to know that her friends have her back."

Friends? I guess that is what these people are to me. I look up at them and they are all smiling and agreeing that it would be a good idea. Kinoshita thanks Sakamoto for the idea and Kirishima-san appears out of thin air to offer another idea. "It would be a good date." From her non-existent pockets comes a Taser. She holds it in one hand and locks the other onto her lover's arm. "Yuuji and I will go together." Like always, she rises and drags the poor boy out of the room while he flails and screams for mercy. I chuckle under my breath, loving the comedy that those two always manage to bring to any situation.

"Hey, Aki," Shimada starts at the same time as Himeji says, "Hey, Yoshii."

"Yeah?" he replies.

They simultaneously ask, "Will you go to the festival with me?" They look at each other, pouting with angry expressions. "Hey! I asked first! No you didn't! I did! Stop that!"

I outwardly laugh as the catfight breaks out, and see Akihisa slide over to where Kouta is. "Help me," he mumbles through a fake smile.

"Too bad, man," Kouta replies coolly, but mentions that he'll gladly take either one of them off of his hands for him.

"Yoshii!" Himeji calls, snapping his attention back to them. "You pick! Which one of us do you want to take to the festival?"

This just keeps getting better, but I know I have to intervene. Not just for their sakes, but because I have an idea. A glorious idea. "Hold up," I say. "Both of you are being selfish and not very fair either. I mean, no one could choose between you two gorgeous ladies." I add a wink on for effect.

Flattered, they reply, "Sorry, Fuyumi-san."

"So to resolve this, I'll pick the couples." I look around at everyone for an "okay" and a couple nod while the others look at me intensely, awaiting my every word. "It shouldn't matter anyway. As Sakamoto said, we're all friends and we'll all end up being together anyway." Akihisa nervously agrees to the idea, knowing that no matter who I pair him with will ultimately lead to his downfall. It'll be great.

Of course I put myself with Kinoshita, Shimada with Akihisa, and Himeji with Kouta. The others agree to it and soon after lunch time ends. I'm shocked back into the idea that time is flowing and as every second ticks, I get closer and closer to the time for the show. Are those my eyes rolling across the floor over there? On no, that's just Himeji's shoes. I look up at her. Crap, she just asked me a question. "What?" I say.

"I said, can Minami and I talk to you for a second," she repeats.

"Oh, yeah sure."

The two girls bring me to a hallway where no one else is. They ask me why I put them in those pairs, but also for advice on what they should do. Well, I might as well spill the beans. "Honestly, it would be the most entertaining situation for me to watch. I love Shimada-san and Yoshii together—can't help it. Too entertaining. And you and Kouta? That's going to be awesome too," I say to Himeji.

She pouts at me. "That's not fair, Fuyumi-san!"

"Well, sorry honey-bun. How 'bout you listen to the way I see it for a sec'? It'll be good for both of you, okay? Shimada, you'll get to have the rights of being his date for the evening, so you get to touch and drag him all over the place. You, Himeji-chan, though, will be the desirable maiden that he watches with jealousy. If you're all over Kouta, then how could he not notice? In his mind, both of you are basically his property."

The girls stare at me as if the idea had never crossed their minds. "You guys…aren't really observant, are you?"

"No, you just," Shimada beings, "kind of make it sound crude."

"What can I say? I'm American." I saunter off, leaving the two to watch me in all of my confidence and beauty leave. As I walk, however, I notice something. Everyone is looking at me. Like, all of the people I'm passing—they're staring. I'm not feeling very confident anymore. Does my hair look okay? It must, I checked it twelve times this morning. Same with my makeup. Oh I know, it's because my arms just fell off. Whoa, I feel a little woozy now. Hold on, I got this. Stay on your feet Fuyumi. I'm swaying, my vision is blurry, and there's someone down the hall I recognize. Is that my mother? It can't be. Not possible. Ow, I fell to the ground. I blink a couple times to try to clear my vision. Everything sounds like I'm in a bubble. I'm sweating a whole lot. That can't look good. I must look awful. I can't bear not looking good in front of people. I feel hands on my shoulders. I think someone's calling my name. Before I can look up to see who it is, I black out.

When I wake up, I can't tell how long I had been out for. I still feel like a million degrees. The color I'm staring at is a light shade of beige and I recognize it as the ceiling of my room. I try to sit up, but I obviously haven't regained all of my strength yet. "Hey, be careful," I hear someone say. Looking over to the source of the voice, I see that it is Kinoshita. I mumble out his name. "Really, please don't strain yourself."

"I'm sorry," I say. "I don't know what happened."

"I think I do," he replies, sitting down on my bed at my feet. "You're nervous about the show and that's okay. You haven't been sleeping very well lately, have you? Or eating anything?"

I struggle to sit up and stare at him, wondering all kinds of different things. I want to ask him how long I was sleeping for, why he was in my house, and how he knew all of that about me. For some reason, though, I can't think of a single way to form any of those questions. I want to sound cool, but collected—considerate, but edgy—mature, but rebellious. I keep opening and closing my mouth, hoping that something, anything, will come out, but nothing does. He definitely thinks I'm a fool now. Great, just what I wanted.

And now he's laughing at me.

"S-stop that!" I yell, crossing my arms and glaring at him.

"I'm sorry, you're just so cute."

Did he just say that? I think I just swooned a little right there. It's just not fair, this kid is _gorgeous_. It is quite possible that I might have a little itty-bitty crush on him. No! Don't say it out loud! Think of something else to say, quick!

"You're cuter."

Great, now you're flirting with him. Good job, Fuyumi.

He scoots down on the bed, leaning closer to me so that our faces are within inches of each other's. "Why don't you start calling me Hideyoshi?"

I feel like my hearts going to explode. I have to respond, he asked me a question. Desperately searching for words, I blurt out the only thing that I can think of. "Only if you start calling me Chika." Why do I do these things to myself? I seriously hate my first name. I cannot understand how it keeps coming up.

"Alright, _Chika_."

It's gorgeous when he says it. I want him to say it again. Then I want to kiss the lips that said it.

Well that was weird. I guess I've never really experienced real emotions like this before. I don't know what to do with them. That would explain why I'm having such a hard time talking to this kid. Hideyoshi. I love that. Hideyoshi.

"Hideyoshi." Oops, I said that out loud. I don't think my hands have ever been so sweaty.

"Yes?" he asks. Now I've really done it. This conversation couldn't get any worse. And that's my stomach over there on the floor, isn't it? "What is it?"

"I was just w-wondering," I begin, not actually sure if words were actually coming out of my throat, "what happened after I passed out?"

He seems a little offended that I asked him that question instead of something more meaningful, and says, "oh," while backing away, then continues with, "Himeji-chan and Minami-san brought you to the infirmary. They came to us later and told us what was going on and suggested that we all go visit you at the end of the day to make sure you were okay. When the day ended, however, and we went to the class-A room, you weren't there. My sister told me that they hadn't seen you since before lunch. We all went over to the infirmary and the nurse told us that you were fine now; you're temperature was back to normal. She asked if any of us could take you home because she had to go to a funeral. I was the only one available to, so here we are."

"Okay, well, thank you."

Then it was silent. Just the two of us, staring at each other. I can literally feel the tension in the air for someone to say something, but I also knew that I wasn't going to say a word. Not because I don't want to, but because I can't. As a matter of fact, I'm feeling pretty uncomfortable right now. I don't like that I feel so out of my element. This isn't me. I don't lose words, I don't pass out in the middle of the day, I don't get nervous, and I certainly don't get sentimental with people. None of this is me. Not anymore, at least.

"Chika, I want to know more about you," Hideyoshi says. "Will you tell me about your life in America?"

I want to tell him no because for some unexplainable reason, I don't want to lie to him. At the same time, I don't want to say no to him—I mean who could say no to that face? Then again, I want him to know what I'm really like, and not what this weak willed girl that I've been acting like is. So I say it bluntly, "No."

He seems surprised. "N-no?"

"You heard what I said."

"Oh, okay, I guess. Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, kid."

More silence.

"I guess I should leave then. I'll see you tomorrow at the festival."

"Yeah, just—wait tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow."

"No, not possible. I had two days this morning."

"You must have lost a lot of sleep, Chika, because you slept all day yesterday. It's seven in the morning."

"What? Why didn't you mention that in the first place?!" I yell.

Hideyoshi stands and crosses the room. He sighs, then says, "I'm sorry. I'll see you tomorrow, Chika-san," without looking at me.

Still exhausted and now frustrated, I fall onto my back and slap one arm over my eyes. Not fair. I hear my front door close and I decide that it's a good idea if I walk around a little. I rise to my feet and make my way into my kitchen. Opening my fridge, I notice that there is some food in a leftover container with a note on it. It reads:

_Fuyumi,_

_ I knew you would be hungry when you woke up, so I purchased some meat buns for you. Just heat them up and they're ready!_

_ Kinoshita Hideyoshi_.

This kid is impossibly cute. I can't even. I desperately want him to stop being so nice to me, but I don't want him to stop talking to me. I guess friendships aren't supposed to be strenuous, but if this keeps up, then I'm going to start having problems.

So now it's a new day and I have officially lost all of my limbs. The girls keep telling me that I look amazing, but I cannot understand how that is possible when I'm a limbless freak. We had decided that the girls would carpool together and meet up with the boys at the festival. At first, I was really excited to get there and let Hideyoshi have an attack over my beauty, but the only thing that I can think about now is my performance. I've been going over and over in my mind what I'll do for my curtain call as the entire crowd stands and throws flowers at my feet. It's what I deserve, but for some reason, I didn't expect it to be happening in Japan for a festival. My dad used to convince me that if I didn't get my grades up, I'd end up on the pole. After a while, I just accepted the idea and whored myself out to anyone with a dick; later any person within five years of my age. It was how I lived and in a way, it still is. I hate it, but if I tried to change it, I wouldn't know who I am. I've let it define me. Fuyumi Chika, the school bitch who's day job is being a slut.

"What are you thinking about, Fuyumi-san?" Himeji asks me as our vehicle comes to a stop. I tell her it's nothing and ask her if she sees any of the guys. She leans forward in the car to look out the windshield. Pointing, she replied, "They're right over there."

"Then let's go rub our beauty in their faces," I say. "Shall we, ladies?" The four of us exit and stand before the boys and flaunting all of our goodies. I hear them oohing and aweing as I toss my hair back behind my shoulder. Shimada thanks her mother for the ride and she drives off, leaving the rest of us alone and technically unsupervised. Anything could happen now. Anticipation pulsing through my veins of all of the shit that's going to go down, I amble over to the others.

"You all look great," Sakamoto says. At these words, Kirishima-san takes great offense. Silly boy, if only he knew better, he would be allowed to live. Grabbing him by the ear, his future wife drags him off to somewhere unseen. I chuckle heartily at the scene. The others stare at me worriedly. Honestly, they should know by now the entertainment I find in the couple's dysfunction and violence.

"Okay, if you're alive tomorrow," Akihisa calls, "then I'll take you out to dinner as a reward!"

"Aw, how charming," I comment. "I knew you were always jealous of Kirishima-san and him."

"J-jealous? What kind of a guy do you think I am, Chika-chan?"

"Alright you two," Himeji interrupts, "why don't we get on with this night?" She walks over to Kouta and wraps herself around his arm. Her boobs are pressed right up against him. I wonder how he's keeping so cool.

I toss the girl a wink of approval. My gaze shifts over to Akihisa and Shimada. The two of them are talking, but she's blushing and he's smiling cockily. I assume that it is because he just gave her a sassy compliment and she's pretending that his intentions are honest because the two of them are technically on a date. Then I notice Hideyoshi.

Sure, his outfit is no different from his normal street wear, but for some reason he looks as beautiful as the stars at night. He moves over to me and grabs my hand. "You look stunning, Chika," he says.

"T-thank you," I stutter, blushing. Of course, everyone else notices.

"That expression's a cute look for you, Fuyumi," Shimada comments.

Desperately needing to change the subject, I say "Alright, so we have about an hour to waste, what do you kids want to do? Split up? Stay together?"

"Let's stay together," Himeji replies. "I feel like I haven't spent a lot of time with you all recently."

"Sounds good," Akihisa agrees, "Let's go find some food!"

As the six of us pursue the quest to find some dinner, Hideyoshi is holding my hand the entire time. My palms are sweating profusely. I want to apologize, but I don't want to look so submissive. Then again, he must know I'm nervous, or rather, not nervous, so that doesn't make me look so good either. Either way, I love the hand holding. His hands feel just like babies. I like the way babies feel.

He pulls me out of my thoughts when he asks me what I want. I admit that I'm not very familiar with Japanese food.

"What have you been eating, then?"

"There are actually a lot of dishes here that have been westernized in the States, so I've been eating those. Just, surprise me, okay?"

He does as I instruct and even after I've consumed the tasty treat, I don't know what it is. I loved every minute of it though and made Hideyoshi promise me that he would come over and make it for me sometime. Of course, Akihisa then had to sassily comment, "Oh, so you two will be going on another date sometime soon?"

"Shut your face, Akihisa," I say.

"Ouch, so harsh."

"Kouta," Himeji begins, "I have chocolate on my face—can you get it off? My hands are all sticky, so I can't do it myself."

How naughty. I have taught her well.

Kouta leans over to her, his face brighter than a ripe tomato, and slowly removed the substance from her face with his thumb. In response, Himeji placed a soft kiss on his cheek and whispered, "thank you" in his ear. The kid looked like he was about to explode. I'm impressed, however, because he somehow manages to keep it all in. He must have been going through some intensive training with Akihisa. Or maybe it is just because he knows he's in a romantic setting and wants to look his best for the ladies. Prove that he would be able to handle a relationship. Oh how they grow up so fast.

I look over at Akihisa to see his reaction to the situation. He pulls Shimada over and wraps his arms around her waist, holding her in a backwards bear hug. She looks stunned at the moment, but leans her head back so that it gently touches his. His expression melts and he becomes inordinately soothed by the gesture. It's a cute sight, enough to make me want to vomit.

Once we decide that food is boring, we go over to some of the games to challenge our intellect or rather, our lack of intellect. Akihisa is really excited about the goldfish-scooping station. So we let him have his fun and walk on over to it. Sakamoto and Kirishima-san are already there, trying their hands at the game. Kirishima seems to have caught quite a few goldfish. Actually, it's a little unclear. Sakamoto is tied up, slightly unconscious, but he's the one holding all the fishes. The lady manning the booth warns Kirishima that she can only take one per person home with her, but the other shoots a glare and says that she is showing her love in this way. I, once again, laugh. Hideyoshi leans over to me, whispering, "Why do you always do that?"

"You can't be serious," I reply. "The two of them are pure comedy gold."

"Has anyone ever offered to take you to the hospital?"

"Awe, I'm flattered you think that of me."

And I'm serious. I'm actually flattered.

The gang and I walk up to the tank and, after paying, the lady there gives us each a _poi _and bowl, showing us how to play. "Aki-kun, will you catch one for me?" Shimada asks.

He sends her a wink, flexing his non-existent muscles and saying, "Sure thing, babe," in English. He is way too into this. I don't think it's healthy.

"Calm down there, Macho-man," I say. "Why don't we let the others go first so you can show off your bravo when we all fail?"

Akihisa takes one for the dramatic, placing a tense hand on my shoulder and slowly lifting his eyes to look at mine. "You, my friend, are a genius."

"I know." Himeji-chan, Shimada-san, and I walk over to booth and get ready to catch one. We make eye contact with each other and confirm our idea to all catch a goldfish at the same time. As if we have practiced it, a goldfish swims up in front of each of us identically in perfect unison. We each hold our bowl in the same ready position in the water. Gracefully, we place the _poi_ in the water. It almost seems like the fish swims towards it. Literally at the same time in the same style, the three of us tap the fish with our _poi_and watch as the fish jumps up out of the water. A smile spreads across each of our faces as we pull up our bowls to catch the fish midair. Success.

We turn around to look at the others. Akihisa's mouth is gaping open in awe. I flip my hair and say, "Teehee, I caught one!" Hideyoshi smiles at me, walking over and placing a soft kiss on my cheek.

"That you did," he says sweetly.

"Well, that was pretty good, ladies," Akihisa says loudly, sauntering over to the tank, "but let me show you how a real master does it."

Now, of course we all know that he is going to fail miserably, but for some reason we let him try any way. Maybe because they know that they're all really only here for me and that I will have much enjoyment in his inevitable and tragic failure. So he snatches the _poi _and bowl out of the lady's hand and goes for the first fish. Without even touching the goldfish, the _poi_ breaks. Hoping that no one would notice the fact that he annihilated it, he quickly threw it behind the tank out of sight, and swiped a new one from the lady, pretending like nothing had happened. Leaning closely to the water, he tries again. This time, one fish jumps out of the water and touches his nose. Now we're all like, dude, fish don't jump, but Akihisa just pretends like it's normal and continues his endeavor. Except now more and more fish are jumping out of the water and touching him. "Ah! They're biting me!" he's yelling. "Stop little fish! I don't taste good!" As those words come out of his mouth, I could have sworn that the fish congregated into the shape of a mega-hand, grabbing Akihisa and dragging him into the tank.

Basically the funniest thing I've ever seen. His legs are flailing about and the fish are literally assaulting him. Eating him. Only Akihisa would get eaten by goldfish at the festival. The girls run over to him to help after yelling at me for laughing hysterically, but honestly, how could I not? Are they not looking at the same thing I am? Himeji gets hit back and Shimada, soon after, does too. Sakamoto exclaims his apologizes to his dying friend, explaining that he would if he wasn't ties up. Then Hideyoshi and Kouta move in. They try a different method than the girls, but it fails even more miserably. So it looks like it's really up to me. I move over to the flail-face and reach my hand into the tank. I grab Akihisa by the back collar of his shirt. With one yank, I tug him out of the water, leaving the fish behind, angrily jumping about the tank.

Out of breath, scratched and wounded, Akihisa yells, "Well thanks for the help!"

"Hey, bro," I say in English, "I was the only one who could get you out of that. Guess I should have just left you there," I continue in Japanese. I snatch him by the ear, threatening to drag him back in to the tank.

"N-no! I don't die!"

Letting him go free, I shake my head and haughtily laugh, saying, "Some master," and walking out of the scene and onto another location. My posy follows closely after and leaves Akihisa alone. By himself. Him and his little fish boo-boos.

With the eating and flirting and fish coming to a close, Hideyoshi speculates that he and I only have a couple minutes before we have to be at the stage. We bid the others fair well and I joke, saying that they should try not to bite each other's heads off. Hideyoshi kindly asks that they try to look for Sakamoto and Kirishima-san so that they don't accidentally miss the show. That would be seriously depressing for me if that happened. It would mean that they would miss my moment of glory. No one wants to miss that. I mean c'mon, I'm _gorgeous_.

While walking to our destination, Hideyoshi's hand is still grasping mine. Since the two of us are technically alone, I decide that it would be okay if I finally apologized for the damp hand situation. "Hey, sorry my hands are so sweaty."

"They are?" he replies. "I hadn't noticed. My hands are sweating a lot too, I was about to apologize as well."

"That's so weird. We must just both be sweaty people."

That was possibly the most uncool thing I have ever said. Of all time. Ever. Being the adorable and good person that he is, of course, he chuckles and says, "You're so cute." He's so good, it's just not fair. Then it hit me.

I pull my hand from his and stop in my tracks. I fasten my eyes on the ground and refuse to make eye contact with him.

"This is wrong," I tell him. "We can't do this. You're so nice. I'm such a bitch. I don't deserve you."

"Chika, that's not true at all," he objects. I know he's just saying it to try to make me feel better. "You're wonderful and kind. I really like you, Fuyumi-san."

"Please stop. I'm none of those things. I'm awful and rude, self- centered and lying. No one likes people like that. I'm sorry."

As I start walking away, I hear him call after me. I try to ignore him, but it's really hard. "Don't you see? You're trying to protect me by doing this! It's an act of kindness!"

His words make me stop again. I can feel a lump growing in my throat. This moment, I knew exactly how it would play out if I let us continue to grow as a couple. I would believe him. Eventually, I would go back to him. In the end, I would hurt him beyond repair. I could never do that to Hideyoshi. I refuse. He's so innocent, I want to do whatever I can to keep it that way. I submitted myself to the horrid lifestyle I live and it's going to stay that way. For both his sake and my own. I continue walking away.

The show is about to start and I am completely distracted in every way possible. At least I'm not losing my limbs anymore, right? Isn't that a plus? No. No it's not. I'm horribly depressed at what happened. I mean, at least I ended it before we got really into each other. That would end really badly if I did. I'm also in no mood to put on the performance of my life. I know I have to though. It would be proof to me that I can do anything. If I fail, then my life is basically over. I would have nothing left. I'd die right on the spot. Dear lord on high the curtain is opening. I'm center stage, sitting in a wooden chair at a matching table. The set is tarnished a dark brown, and on top is a saucer, tea cup, and a single, burning candle. The spotlight focuses on me. I turn my head towards the audience. They're all anxiously anticipating my every word. I start with the opening line, setting the scene and introducing my character. I take a sip from the cup and Hideyoshi enters. We exchange a conversation. He leaves. I sing a song about my character's despair. The scene ends. I exit stage right. I feel like I'm just going through the motions. When I go on for the next scene, however, I look out into the audience and notice something disturbing. I see my mother. I panic a tad, considering that when I saw her earlier, it was because I was in a state of deliria. This time, I'm sure that she's actually there. Her face is in the same sneer as always. My heart is racing. I think I'm still saying my lines. I think I'm still singing, but my mind is focusing on other things. How could she be here? It's literally not possible. Am I hyperventilating yet? What if I run into her later? Is she going to take me back? I don't want to go back! No! Oh, okay, she's leaving. She shakes her head disappointingly and makes her way out of the crowd. The scene ends and I run off stage.

The first person I run into is Hideyoshi. Thank goodness it's the intermission. "What's wrong? You're breathing heavily," he asks me.

"I saw my mother," I respond bluntly.

"Your mother? Isn't that a good thing? Wouldn't you miss her?"

I stare at him blankly. I can't imagine what my life must look like to these people. Spoiled, selfish—maybe even that my parents wanted me to leave because I'm so nasty. Do normal people love their parents? I sure don't. Anyway, there's no way I can tell anyone what's really going on. It's hard, but I control my breath and compose myself.

"I'm fine, Hideyoshi."

"No you're not. Please, Chika—you're the most honest person I know—just tell me what's wrong."

I laugh haughtily in derision, saying, "Honest? That's the last thing I am. You must not be very observant. I'm a bitch, Hideyoshi, You can't even imagine how many lies I've told you since we first met."

"Don't you see, Chika? People who actually have bad characteristics can't admit them to themselves! You're not like that!"

"I've already made my decision! This is who I am! Stop trying to change me! After this show, I don't ever want to see you again!"

Well, shit nuggets. In no universe did I mean that, but if I try to apologize, then that'll just prove his point! I am way too conflicted right now. There's literally nothing that I can decided anymore. Maybe I should go back to the States with my mother. Lock myself in my room for the rest of my life. If my mother's found me here, then I really don't have anywhere to be happy anymore. I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Even though I yelled at him, Hideyoshi is still standing in front of me, waiting to explain my every heartache. Crying, I collapse into his arms, letting my thick black makeup run off my eyes and stain his white shirt. His arms are warm. I don't even want to leave his hold. Within that short moment that I'm sobbing into his arms, I decide that the reason I came to Japan was to escape and change the way I'd been living. I don't care anymore, I'm not going to pretend to hate him, even if loving him would ruin my reputation.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. Please, forgive me. You're right. You're always right. Please. Please don't stop talking to me. I need you."


	4. Makeovers, Jobs, and Sleepovers?

**-looks at last time this story was updated- DECEMBER? That can't be right. I'm the worst. I'm so sorry everyone! I left the last chapter off on such a cliffhanger too. This one is a little short, but it'll hold you guys. I really wanna write the next chapter fast...because I don't really know what's going to be in it. I'll work hard, promise! Fighting~ and I'm very very sorry! **

**FULL SUMMARY:  
Because of certain circumstances, Fuyumi Chika moves to Japan and enrolls in Fumizuki Academy. It's always been her dream to come to Japan because of her otaku obsession, but she recently had other motivations to go to the foreign land. Once successfully in her class, she runs into strange persons, easily gains friendship, and even has her eye on a certain boy. These things, however, are the least of the complications going to come her way.**

**RATED T FOR:  
Language  
Suggestive Themes**

* * *

Waking up is proving itself to be a trying matter. For some reason, today I have been snoozing off a lot in class. I mean, duh I know why. I'm an emotional wreck from all of the havoc last night. Most of it is smoothed over now, but all of my other friends are very suspicious of Hideyoshi and me. Mostly Akihisa. But we all know he's just thinking something dirty. Same with Kouta. In some aspects, I can understand their thoughts on the matter, but at the same time I just want them to chill their tits and shut up about it. I cannot even explain how many times I've been asked about it today. Especially by people I don't know. Like, what. Who are you. Go home.

Really, the truth is nothing happened. I know, strange, but it's true. After I sobbed my life away into Hideyoshi's arms and officially ruined his shirt forever with my pounds of makeup—and one fake eyelash stuck on there too—he promised me a few things. Promise number one: "I'll never let anyone hurt you." Promise number two: "I'll never judge you or assume anything." Promise number three: "I'll always believe in you and never lie to you." Final promise: "I'll never leave you and always care for you." Yes, craftily snuck in there was a confession. He _cared _about me. Not just some regular, lame, "I'll be your friend," but _care_. I almost started crying again when he told me, but the way he pushed me back to look in my eyes and ran his warm touch through my hair melted me. In response, I mumbled out some sounds that tried really hard to be words, but couldn't get passed level three and stayed as the strange vowels and consonants they were born as. He chuckled and rubbed some of the makeup off below my left eye. I smelled his thumb. It was like day-old cologne and dryer sheets, mixed with flowery hand soap—the kind in public bathrooms. I closed my eyes and reveled in the scent as if I could recognize it from my childhood. No, it was unique and lovely. A small smile of pleasure showed on my lips and Hideyoshi kissed my cheek in response. "Let's get you cleaned up," he said, pulling me off to the dressing room for a quick fixer-upper.

When intermission was over, I definitely looked better than I had in Act I. Hideyoshi proved himself to be a god with makeup. He also threw on an overcoat to cover up the mess I made on his shoulder. I asked him why he didn't just clean it up with his magic, but he replied that it would take a little bit more than three minutes to clean. I apologized. He kissed my head and laughed that it was okay. I like it when he kisses me. In that very moment, though embarrassed I am to admit it, I started to think of ways I could make it look like he "accidentally" kissed my lips. Like, if he leaned towards my cheek and "someone pushed me" and I turned my head and our lips touched…oh man. Wow I sound like a fangirl. This is a tad disturbing.

Then the show ended. For curtain call, the crowd roared, cheering me on. I bowed, embarrassed out of my mind, considering that this was definitely my worst performance ever. I mean c'mon, I was a wreck. But they still loved me. Just as it should be. Back in the dressing room, all of our friends were waiting there for us with so many flowers it smelt like a green house. I was honored, yes, but sneezed up quite a storm as well. I finally understood what is meant when people say, "it's the thought that counts." Because otherwise I would have hated them for the assault on my nose. Anyway, while giving me their gifts and crowding me with sentiments, I looked at the doorway and behind a small crowd, I saw my mother again. My hand flew to Hideyoshi, grabbing onto his shirt. I balled up all that silky white fabric into my fist as I tried to control my breathing. Mind racing, I started to see spots. I heard Hideyoshi calling my name, and I tried my hardest to focus only on his voice, but I couldn't pry my eyes off my mother's image. All I could see was her tall figure, looming in the doorway, her short blond locks falling across her disapproving expression. "Who is that?" I heard my friends asking.

"I-I don't k-know that women," I said.

Then she left. Even after she was gone, I couldn't stop looking at the doorway.

"You sure don't look like you don't know her," Sakamoto-san replied.

In my peripheral vision, I could see the others eyes all fixed on me intently with worry. It was understandable; I was worried about myself then too. Hideyoshi pried my hand from his shirt and entwined his fingers through mine. His gentle touch tried to sooth my feels, but I just started to tremble and shake even more. I could just barely process anything going on around me.

"I think she's just had a really long day," Hideyoshi said. "You guys go back to the festival and enjoy the rest of your night. I'll take her home."

"Are you sure, Hideyoshi?" Akihisa asked.

I think he nodded, because the next words I heard were Himeji saying, "Okay, then we'll all see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

With everyone gone, Hideyoshi moved to stand in my line of sight. All I could see was his face and upper torso. The tears started to well up in my eyes. I felt like my mission had failed; my mission to run away and start anew. My past was chasing me and I couldn't run fast enough to make it over the hurdle.

"I'm sorry," I said to him as the tears started rolling.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for."

"No, there is. You shouldn't have to take care of me.

He sighed and let out a small chuckle. "Don't you remember what I promised you?"

I stared at him in silence, sniffling when my nose threatened to drip. "Can I go home now?"

Hideyoshi placed a soft hand on my cheek, using his thumb to wipe a tear off my face as the other one rolled into my mouth, making me taste the unpleasant salt of it. "Then change back into your clothes and we'll get going."

He disappeared through the doorway as I suppressed the want to yell at him to stay. I had to repeatedly remind myself that he was coming back and had no intentions of leaving me by myself. Breathing deeply, I collected myself and changed, hanging up all the costumes and leaving a small note of thanks for letting me perform with them all on the vanity.

It was just after dinner when Hideyoshi and I got to my house, but the moment we got to my doorstep things got awkward. Like the two of us had just been on a really romantic first date and we didn't know whether or not to kiss goodbye or if I should invite him in. But none of those things happened, so I don't know what was wrong with me then. Of course he had to smile at me sweetly as we waited on my doorstep for me to do something. Any plan I had been making to create a less awkward situation melted away. So my throat just spat out words. Now that I think back on it, it actually made a little sense. No, a lot of sense. I'm proud of myself.

"So, uh, how did you get into my house the other day?" I asked.

Hideyoshi chuckled and bent over towards the welcome rug. "When you keep a spare key where the rest of world does, it's not that hard." And he stood up with the key in his hand. He unlocked the door and let me in. To my own home.

"Damn, I thought that was just something Americans did."

I was serious. But it's okay, because Hideyoshi laughed as if it was a joke. Even though it wasn't.

We walked into my living room and placed all of my flowers—at least the ones we could carry—onto the floor in the hallway neat the entrance. Feeling particularly tired and lazy, I shuffled over to the couch and laid down, face-first into the pillows. When I sensed that Hideyoshi was standing over me, I rolled over and saw him leaning over me. He looked as if he were about to kiss me, but I totally ruined that moment. Four for you, Fuyumi. Instead, like in any good story, our eyes met, locked, and we noticed the sparkle in each other's eyes and all that gooey stuff. To my surprise, my thoughts transitioned quickly from about him to about myself. I decided that I might as well just say out loud what I was thinking.

"I've been thinking a lot about myself, lately."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I understand, Chika," Hideyoshi said.

"No," I sat up, "I know now that this is something I have to talk about. I've been having too much trouble trying to figure it out myself."

Hideyoshi nodded and sat down next to me, folding his hands and watching me patiently as I collected what I wanted to say.

"When I came here, it was because I wanted to change everything. I hate myself, and I want more than anything to start new, but for some reason, that was harder to do than I thought. Starting school with all of you, I just automatically acted as the bitch I was at home. Maybe it was because it was the only thing I knew? I don't know. I just don't know what's right anymore." I could feel the lump growing in my throat as I started to reach the more emotional topic. "But then I saw my mom." My eyes erupted, tears exploding from their ducts. With a deep inhale I tried to calm myself. Hideyoshi rubbed soothing circles on my back to help. "She's caused me so much pain, Hideyoshi. That's why I fainted the other day—because I saw her at school."

"Is that who the woman was at the festival?" he inquired, scooting closer to me.

I nodded. "And then there's you. You're so nice to me. You're such a good friend." Speaking was getting progressively harder through the crying. I started hiccupping every now and then. "And I really like you, Kinoshita-san." A smile poked through my despair and he pulled me in for a hug, squeezing me tightly. I buried my face in his shoulder again, letting myself cry out everything I was feeling. I didn't want the moment to end, but when I stopped hiccupping and it seemed like I had run out of tears he pulled back and placed his hands in the crooks of my neck.

"I made a promise to you, Chika, and I won't break it."

"That's not all there is to my story, Hideyoshi," I admitted.

"No, don't tell me."

"What? Why not?"

"Because you don't need to, I can see it in your eyes. You just want to keep talking so that I don't leave."

"Wow, I'm that see-through?"

Like really, how could he tell? This kid is a serious magician.

"I can stay over, if you want."

I blushed a little, embarrassed that it _was_ what I wanted. "Wouldn't that be a little inappropriate?"

Hideyoshi pulled out his phone, opening a text message to his sister. He punched in some letters, hit "send," and replied, "It's done. I'm staying over." Turning off his phone, he threw it on the coffee table in front of the sofa we were sitting on.

I smiled nervously. No matter how whore-y I was back in my American days, I had never had a guy, or girl for that matter, stay over _my _house while I was _alone._ Just us two. Me and Hideyoshi. Alone. Anything could happen. I mean, I didn't know the situations we could have ended up in. Even if I told myself right at that moment that I wouldn't let anything happen, moments are moments, and they just, ya' know. Happen. Like boom. Just like that. I watched him as thoughts sped through my head like bullets. Hideyoshi rose from his seat, "Why don't you get into more comfortable clothes," he said. "You look tired."

"Yeah," I responded, barely processing what life was.

Entering my room alone, I hesitantly stripped, jumping at every little bump and creek in the house, thinking it was Hideyoshi entering my room to see me in the nude. Eventually, I did end up in my pajamas—tiny shorts and a baggy, long sleeved shirt—but it did take a while with all the neurosis. I had to physically calm myself before being able to leave my room and go back to where Hideyoshi was. After what felt like thirty minutes, I finally made my way back to the living room and I saw him standing there, leaning over the couch, laying out a blanket and pillow for himself.

"Ya' know," I began, crossing my arms and collecting my usual joking self, "it pulls out into a bed."

"W-what?" he exclaimed, baffled, feeling around the sofa in an attempt to find the source of the fairy dust.

"Yeah, silly," I chuckled, walking over to him. "Help me move the table and I'll show you."

He did as I asked, both of us successful in the mission. Then I told him to stand aside and watch me work my magic. I threw everything that was on the couch onto the floor and pulled a handle, letting the bed unfold onto the floor into a two person mattress.

"You've seriously never seen one of these before?" I asked him, noticing his astonished expression. It was cute really. I just wanted to pinch his beautiful, smooth, feminine cheeks. "Dude, it came with the house. It's not even an American thing."

"I guess I just, don't pay attention to my own culture," he said. "Can I sit on it?"

I rolled onto it, lying down and letting my muscles relax. "If I can, you can."

Then it happened. He walked towards the bed, but since he was so busy looking at me, he rammed his toes into a foot of the bed, causing him to fall. Yes, he fell, just like I had pictured in my fangirling fantasies, onto my lips. And kissed me. In my mind, it was a cute thing. In reality, it hurt. His face actually bashed into mine, and I felt all of his teeth, through his lips and mine, hit my teeth. If he had tripped with any more momentum, he would have knocked out a couple of them.

Both our eyes wide open in shock, the kiss sustained, slowly becoming less painful and more sentimental. His eyes slowly closed pushing into the kiss. Mine eventually drifted shut as well, leaning towards him. I wanted him to feel what I was feeling. I wrapped my arms around his neck, waiting for him to do something fancy with this kiss, but instead he ended it, pulling away and apologizing.

"It's okay," I tried to calm him, he seemed a little frantic.

"No, it's not," he replied lying down next to me in defeat. "You're emotionally unstable, I just shouldn't."

"Hideyoshi, emotionally unstable or not, I still like you. I kissed you back, okay? So just chill out."

He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing! Or else I'll punch you in the knubs."

"Knubs? I have knubs?" Hideyoshi asked, laughing out loud in that cute laugh of his.

"Yes, you do," I replied matter-of-factly.

"Alright then."

Our conversation from there on out turned to simple chatter between two friends. We didn't flirt, we didn't get into anything serious, we just talked and joked until we passed out on my couch bed together in the wee hours of the night. When I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock going off in my bedroom, I felt indescribably warm. Yes, the two of us were cuddling underneath a thin blanket. His arms were wrapped around my waist, holding me tightly against his chest. My eyes threatened to close again and pull me to sleep, but I knew the two of us had to go to school or else the whole situation would be incredibly suspicious instead of only slightly suspicious.

"Hey," I said, poking his hands and arms repeatedly, "Hideyoshi we have to wake up now."

"I know," he replies, not sounding drowsy in one bit, "I've been awake for a while now."

"Really? You could have woken me up."

"But this is so comfortable."

In all honesty, I wanted to stay like that with him forever. Never moving, never needing anything else. But I knew the reality of it all, and I'm sure he did too. He just wasn't wasting a second of that moment and let it last for as long as he knew it could.

I chuckled at his comment and leaned my head back into his neck. "That doesn't change the fact that we have to go to school."

"All right, all right," he said, rolling away from me and climbing off the bed. I sat up and stretched my arms out as Hideyoshi did the same. "I'll make breakfast," he announced.

"You don't have to—"

"I'm sure there are a lot of things you have to do to get ready, so I'll prepare food. I'll make us some lunch too. There's nothing really else for me to do anyway."

So I left to take a shower, fix my hair, apply makeup, get dressed, and when I returned to the kitchen, he had made two plates of food and packed both of our lunches. I brushed his hair for him and then we ate, packed our bags, and left for school.

That was all that happened. In a way, I was a little sad that nothing completely thrilling went on, but I knew that there was a time and a place for that, and it wasn't last night at my house.

"Fuyumi-san, are you sure you're alright?" Himeji asks me for about the hundredth time as we all eat lunch.

"Oh my god," I sigh in English, "Yes, you guys, I'm seriously okay. I'm just tired. Last night was really rough," I finish in Japanese.

"It was _rough_? I see, I see," Akihisa comments, winking at Hideyoshi who is sitting as far away from me as he possibly could in our little circle.

"Wow, I think I'm actually going to punch you in the face," I reply, sending the dirty little hobo a glare.

"Eek!"

I get up, tired of people talking to me—also just tired in general—and move over to the corner of the roof. "I'm going to sleep. Right here. In this cold corner," I announce, trying to make myself comfortable.

"Fuyumi," Sakamoto begins, "why don't you just go home?"

"Just let me sleep…" I whine, closing my eyes.

Actually, the rock hard, cold, rough, stone roof is comfortable. Maybe that's just my fatigue talking. I need to sleep more in the future. I function can't sleep without words English I don't speak.

Just as I'm about to pass out, I hear Shimada ask Hideyoshi for the truth. He basically tells them every detail, minus anything personal. He leaves out my uncontrollable sobbing, the half-truth about my life, the kiss, and, most importantly, the sleeping together. But the way he tells the story sounds seamless. To the others, it probably sounds like there isn't a moment missing when really a majority of the night is left out. Hideyoshi, however, doesn't make up any lies to fill in the voids. He just doesn't mention them. I must learn this craft of his.

When it finally sounds like he's hit everything and the story is ending, he says, "But I am a little worried."

"Worried about what?" Kirishima-san inquires.

"When I made food, there wasn't a lot of anything. I had to think for a while what to feed us because there weren't many options."

"That may just be because her food shopping day is soon," Himeji suggests.

Not true.

"Maybe, but when I was done cooking and started looking around, I noticed her spending habits. There were a lot of recently dated receipts and piles of unopened books and video games."

"Hideyoshi, do you think she's been recklessly buying things?" Shimada says.

I wouldn't say reckless…just more than usual. Buying things I love and then not using them. Doesn't everybody do that?

"I feel bad for her parents if they're giving their kids all this money and she's just blowing it on junk she's not even using."

Whoa, low blow there, Shimada. No need to get sassy with me. Even though they all think I'm over in this corner. Sleeping. In a corner. By myself. Maybe I should seek help. Or sleep. What is sleep?

"Wait, here's a crazy idea!" Akihisa exclaims, sounding extremely excited. "Let's cut school tomorrow and go get her a job!"

"I don't know how that's supposed to sound," Hideyoshi commented, "good or bad."

"That sounds like a good idea, Aki-kun!" Shimada called. "Especially if she's with all of us! We can encourage her and give her peer pressure at the same time!"

Wow thanks, ponytail. This just keeps getting better.

"But, let's have it be a surprise."

Surprise officially ruined. I guess I'll act, just to make them feel good.

"Yeah! We'll show up at her house tomorrow morning and kidnap her!"

I don't even care who's talking anymore. This is sounding less and less like a good thing for me. Reason number one: the last thing I want on this planet is a job. Reason number two: just no.

But it all happens anyway. I'm standing in my kitchen over the stove, wearing my school uniform and a pink apron with hearts, preparing my lunch, when a crowd of reckless teenagers break into my home—and it's the whole crew. Akihisa, Sakamoto, Kirishima, Shimada, Himeji, and Hideyoshi are all here. "I really gotta move that key," I say out loud.

"Oooooh~ What are you making, Fuyumi-chan?" Himeji asks, appearing next to me and looking over my shoulder.

"Just trying to figure out a way to keep soba—no wait stop. What are you people doing in my house?"

"Surprise, Chika-chan!" Akihisa yells.

"I already don't like this."

"Just hear us out, Fuyumi," Hideyoshi says.

Well, since he said it, I have to.

I sigh in defeat, and say, "Okay, kids. Go for it."

Akihisa bounces up in front of me and pulls me over to my couch. I look over longingly at my stove, and notice Hideyoshi taking over cooking it for me. That's all that matters. That my noodles don't suffer. I really love me some noodles.

He explains to me his plan, mentioning that it isn't fair to my parents to keep spending their money when I can be making my own. The kid's putting a lot of effort into it all, I'll give him that.

"I like the way cutting school sounds, but not the rest of it," I admit.

"Aw, c'mon, Chika!" he begs.

"We're doing this for you!" Shimada calls. I think she's actually getting angry. Her face is turning a little red.

Hey Fuyumi, remember why you're here? Turning over a new leaf? This is your chance. These people are just trying to be nice! Let them into your heart! Getting a job would be good for you! Okay, okay, stop nagging me. Why don't people question my mental health?

"Okay, alright, whatever, I'll do it," I say, putting my hands up in surrender.

A small celebration erupts in my house as they cheer each other on for their success. It, however, was only the beginning of the mission. They tell me to take off my uniform and put on normal clothes that aren't revealing. Oh how they ruin all my fun.

Hideyoshi packaged up my noodles and put them in the fridge, telling me that I could reheat them and eat them later. This gave me small joy. The thought of coming home to cold noodles was not as thrilling as being able to eat the noodles when I wanted.

Sporting shorts and a three-quarter length shirt, me and the gang heads off on our adventure. We make our way towards, what I call, town square, congregating at a large fountain. "So, where to?" I ask, slightly dreading the answer. Sakamoto mentions that he wants to check out all of the waitressing jobs first, just because I'm so very sociable. I don't agree with him, but I guess it would be a step in the right direction. I only think this because when Sakamoto-san said it, I looked over at Hideyoshi, pouting, and he smiled and nodded. Code, waitressing would be a good idea. I'm trying my best not to dread it.

So that's what we do, but for some reason, I'm not getting a job anywhere.

"This isn't any good," Shimada sighs, sitting down on the ground. "No one wants her."

"Yeah, I don't get it," Kouta adds.

Everyone jumps. "What? Kouta? Where did you come from?" Akihisa asks.

"That's for me to know, and you to never know."

"So back to me," I say, trying not to hurt my brain on pondering his mysterious ways.

Everyone is silent for a moment, trying to figure out why I keep getting rejected. We had all agreed that a foreigner would bring in business, mostly because the Japanese are fascinated with foreigners. At least that's what I hope. What other reason would there be for random people in the streets touching my blonde hair and petting my arms? So, what then? I was a tad insulted.

"Maybe it's the way she looks," Kirishima-san suggests.

"That's a little rude, don't you think?" Sakamoto responds, trying to tighten the hold on his women. He'll never understand that she's a free woman who speaks her mind.

"No, no I think she's right," Himeji agrees.

"You guys are cruel."

"No, Yuuji, she doesn't mean her appearance, but her appearance," Shimada tries to explain.

"I think you people are _actually_ making less and less sense," I remark.

"Fuyumi-san, you're dark eyes, strange hairstyle—it's just not very appealing to businesses. They want to employ someone who won't scare away their customers," Kirishima states in her usual monotone.

"I'm actually a little flattered."

"So what do we do?" Shimada asks.

All of the girls—and Akihisa—look at each other and a small smirk spreads across their lips. "Makeover," they say in unison.

And they all start walking towards me, encircling me, trapping me. "What? No! You can't!" I yell, but to no avail. They all grab me and drag me off to a salon. Against my will.

When I come out of that hell hole, I feel like a pampered poodle. The nice lady doing my hair and makeup scrubbed my flesh within an inch of its life, trying to get off every spot and fleck of black makeup on my eyelids. She then coated my face in what she called, BBcream, slapped some pink on my cheeks, a light shimmer on my thin lips, navy blue eyeliner on only the top of my eyelids to bring out the brown hues in my red eyes and a ton of black mascara, only to make my eyelashes look as long as possible. But the worst part of it all was what she did to my hair. S-she…cut it. It used to come down to my waist in its gentle waves… but now it's ends are curled to right above my boob. They brushed the top….curled the tips…and cut it. I think I almost cried when it was happening. Everyone's telling me how pretty I look, especially Hideyoshi, but it's too drastic a change. I need time.

With my new hair and face, the gang brings me to the restaurant they want me to work at the most. The best part was that the employer didn't recognize me. The second best part was that he hired me immediately. What does this say about the world? What a wretched message portrayed. It's not true, by the way. I see scary people getting jobs all over the place. It's personality that counts. Really. The Japanese just don't like me for some reason.

I leave the restaurant and look at all of my friends. They all look so genuine. Smiles and faces of anticipation for what I have to say to them. I can really tell how much all of these people care about me. I feel like my heart is opening up for once, just like they have all opened up their hearts for me. They may all be idiots of every flavor—except for Himeji and Kirishima—but they're my idiots. I wouldn't give them up for anything. These people, they're my new family.

Tears are starting to well up in my eyes from my realization, and I tell them, "I got the job," with a big, stupid smile on my face.

They all stampede towards me, pulling me in for one big group hug. As the hug dissipates, all that is left is me and Hideyoshi, and he's holding me closer and tighter than he ever has. "I'm proud of you," he whispers in my ear.

"I think I'm starting to get it," I tell him after I pull away from the embrace.

From the audience erupts "oohs" and "awes" and I swear I want to punch them all in the face. But afterwards I'll hug them.

"So what do we do now?" I ask. "Mission accomplished, right?"

"I think this is the right time," Kouta announces. We all turn and look at him.

"Right time for what?" Shimada asks.

"I have a surprise for Chika."


End file.
